TYLER, Texas — Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler had a full house on Sunday filled with worship and praise in the Spanish language as the church celebrated its first service for the Español campus.
Ignacio Orellana, worship leader for Green Acres Baptist Church en Español, said Sunday was the day that God prepared for the church.
With a growing Hispanic population in East Texas, they wanted to make sure that statistic was reflective on their church body.
"We have intentionally invested in this Spanish campus to reach out to the Spanish community and let them know that Jesus loves them," said Eddy Espinosa, business and operations administrator for the Español campus.
For the church, it's important to create a safe space for the Hispanic community to come together in worship.
"Hispanics, they struggle in a different way. They struggle with loneliness, they struggle with missing family because they're so far away. We want to be that family that the Hispanic community needs," Orellana said.
Fernando Mangieri, pastor for Green Acres' Español campus, said they want to reach local Hispanics and be a blessing to them.
"And we really want to be the church of the city," Mangieri said.
He added Green Acres is a multicultural church. Although the service is lead in Spanish, they have a translation device for people who want to attend but don't understand the language.
"All people, all generations, all culture, we have a space for you here," Orellana said.
For their first service Sunday, nine people were baptized. And this is only the beginning of the church's bigger vision called "The 10-10-10."
"Over the next 10 years, we will see 10,000 people say yes to Jesus, over 10 campuses, and our Spanish campus is one part of that larger vision," Espinosa said.
Every Sunday, the Español campus service will begin at 11 a.m. at Green Acres Baptist Church.